Rulers of pre-christian Lithuania in the art of the 19-20th c.

Kalbant apie ikikrikščioniškos epochos Lietuvos valdovus, iškyla jų atvaizdų autentiškumo problema, neišliko jokių portretų. Seniausios Lietuvos kunigaikščių portretų versijos kildinamos iš iš A. Guagnini kronikos „Europos Sarmatijos aprašymas“, išleistos XVI a., graviūrų. Šios graviūros patraukė dėmesį romantizmo laikotarpiu, kai, labiausiai dėl literatūros kūrinių poveikio, susidomėta pagoniškos Lietuvos istorija. Graviūromis kaip pirminiais atvaizdais naudojosi daugelis dailininkų, jos padėjo pamatą ikonografinei tradicijai ir paliko savo pėdsakus XX a. mene. XX a. pradžioje, pirmiausia tarp lietuvių dailininkų, išryškėjo noras atsiplėšti nuo įsigalėjusios vaizdavimo tradicijos ir kurti savąją valdovų ikonografiją. Garsiausi šios krypties atstovai – dailininkas Petras Kalpokas ir skulptorius Vytautas Kašuba. Stiprios vaizdavimo tradicijos nebuvimas sąlygoja ikonografijos kūrimo procesą ir šiandien. Romantizmo epochos literatūra taip pat teikė dailininkams daugybę temų ir pasakojimų apie pagoniškos Lietuvos istoriją bei valdovus. Didžiausio dėmesio susilaukė Mindaugas, Gediminas ir Kęstutis. Pagrindiniai istorinės dailės siužetai: Mindaugo krikštas ir karūnacija, Gedimino sapnas ir Vilniaus įkūrimas, Kęstučio ir Birutės susitikimas, Kęstutis – Vytauto tėvas, Kęstučio mirtis. Garsiausi dailininkai, kūrę Lietuvos valdovų atvaizdus, yra Elena Skirmantaitė-Skirmantienė, Mykolas Elvyras Andriolis, Kazimieras Alchimavičius, Vincentas Slendzinskis, Janas Styka, Apolinaras Šimkūnas, Stasys Ušinskas ir Jurgis Juodis.When speaking of the Pre-Christian (or pre-Vytautas) rulers of Lithuania, the problem of the authenticity of their depiction becomes redundant. It is a priori evident that no life portraits survive. The oldest imagined depictions are known from the illustrations of Alexander Guagninis chronicle "A Description of Sarmatian Europe" published in the 16th c. These etchings were brought into attention during the Romanticism age, when, largely due to influence of literature, interest in pagan Lithuanian history surged and they served as a primary image to a lot of artists and, as they became iconographic cliches, left their imprint on the art of the 20th c. Also, a creative trend to move away from Guagnini's tradition and thereby create Lithuania's own iconography of rulers is visible from the beginning of the 20th c. The most prominent representatives of this direction are painter Petras Kalpokas and sculptor Vytautas Kašuba. The absence of a strong tradition of depiction has also determined that the process of creating iconography still continues today. The literature of Romanticism also provided the artists with a lot of subjects and stories from pagan Lithuanian history, among them the subjects involving rulers. The personalities of Mindaugas, Gediminas and Kęstutis have received the most attention. The main subjects noted are: the christening and coronation of Mindaugas, Gediminas' dream and the founding of Vilnius, the meeting of Kęstutis and Birutė, Kęstutis - the father of Vytautas and the death of Kęstutis. The most outstanding artists who chose to depict ancient Lithuanian rulers are Helena Skirmuntt, Michal Elwiro Andriolli, Kazimierz Alchimowicz, Wincenty Sleńdziński, Jan Styka, Apolinaras Šimkūnas, Stasys Ušinskas and Jurgis Juodis

Fate of the manors of Kupiškis district in the 20th century

At the turn of the 19th-20th centuries the area of present Kupiškis District numbered around a hundred manors and granges of large or middling landowners (50-1oo ha). Usually most of these granges were no longer owned by the gentry, but by richer peasants and townspeople. The 20th century history of the manors in this region can be divided into four more prominent periods, just like the history of the entire country: a) prior to 1918; b) 1918-1940 - the period of the Independent Lithuanian Republic; c) 1940-1990 - Soviet occupation; d) the period after 1990. During Soviet years many buildings of the manors disappeared from the face of the earth. The buildings that were put to public use had the highest chances to survive, however after the 1990 re-establishment of Lithuanian independence far from all of the surviving buildings have been taken adequate care of the manor houses of Adomynė, Noriūnai, Salamiestis are being restored and cared for, while the manor house of Antašava and the park has no owner. The residential house of the little llčiūnai Manor is well maintained, but the wooden houses of the manors of Šetekšna, Laibiškis, Kumpiniškis are decaying now since their tenants have left the buildings. The original owners of the manor-farmsteads Palėvenėlės, Palėvenės, Bražiškiai and Ratautiškis regained possession of their property and put efforts, within their capabilities, to conserve and restore the buildings and the grounds, to adjust the manors to recreation needs

Bogdanovas-the lost paradise

The Bogdanovas Estate is known mostly to us as the place where Ferdinandas Ruščicas, the prominent Vilnius artist of the early 20th century lived and worked. It was in Bogdanovas that his most famous paintings were conceived, and within these works the motifs of the Bogdanovas manner clearly dominate. How did it come to be that in the modern period, when the unquestionable epicenter of the panorama of cultural life had become the city, that an artist of such considerable talent was able to reveal himself as if dissociated and withdrawn from that epicenter in his provincial estate? The author has attempted to find an answer to this question while taking into consideration both the long history of this estate and the common social-economical-political tendencies of development in the region of the day. At the end of the 19th century and early 20th century, following the failed anti-czar rebellions, the politics of national oppression became stronger, serfdom was abolished and capitalist relations brought under formation. Under these circumstances the estate could not be content only to function as a preserver of the traditional mentality of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and fixed rate shelter. In order to survive the estate was forced to accept new challenges and to find its place in a wider cultural context, exert influence upon it and even become a center of attraction. The history of the Bogdanovas Estate is one of the most significant and best documented examples that illustrate this phenomenon. Out of all the objective reasons which determined the significance of the role of this estate in cultural history, emphasis is placed on the fact that the family of Ruscicai managed to preserve it without any lending or division of the estate and with a functional infrastructure intact.A lot was determined by the geographical location of Bogdanovas and its good means of communication with Vilnius, thus its provincialism was converted into an advantage and even helped the estate to physically survive during the years of World War I. The Bogdanovas eventually benefited from the geopolitical changes that followed after World War I as it remained in the territory captured by Poland. This prolonged its existence as an agricultural and cultural center for a couple of decades. In addition, the article presents Bogdanovas as a unique, almost perfect location, resulting from a compatibility wrought between nature and culture which was formed during the centuries. The special aura of this estate not only prompted the unlocking of the talent of the artist, but for this frequent visitor longing for beauty and spiritual peace it also became associated with an ideal environment, one holding an almost sacral dimension. From here flowed the generous epithets of "heaven" that were meant for this place. The spiritual engagement of the artist to Bogdanovas and his strong instinct of love for his homeland, converted Ruščicas' landscapes into complicated visual interpretations of human experiences. At the same time, the minstrel of Bogdanovas consciously (and at the same time - unconsciously) formed the significance of his patrimony as of a passing cultural object. We can look at his canvas not only through the prism of the artist's moods, but also as an attempt to discern in them the felicitous metaphor of the passing epoch of the estates; one which is entwined with the menace of oncoming loss and the withdrawal from a lost heaven

Elena Skirmantaitė-Skirmantienė (Skirmuntt) - the first Lithuanian female sculptor

Though Elena Skirmantaitė-Skirmantienė (Skirmuntt) lived a short life (1827-1874) but it was rather interesting and sapid. Coming from a well-known and rich family, whose domains were mainly located in Pinsk district (current Byelorussia), she had access to proper education for a women ofthat period (she learnt in Vilnius, Vienna, Rome, etc.) and was well aware of trends and fashions in European art ofthat period. Unfortunately, her artist's potential was restricted by a number of circumstances: weak health since childhood, family-related troubles after wedding with the relative Kazimieras Skirmantas, complicated social-political situation in the country. The anti-Russian uprising in 1863 had a fatal effect on her family: her husband and sculptor was exiled to the depths of Russia and later she had to experience the fate of an exile herself. Her life became calmer only at the end of it, when her family and she were forced to live in the Crimea. The creation of the artist may be grouped into two periods clearly divided by the uprising in 1863. The first pre-uprising period is marked by intensive search for own artistic style. Some shorter periods may still be observed within it: amateur creation (1840-1850), period of studies in Vienna and Rome (1852-1854), self-dependent work in her motherland (1855-1861). Though all these 20 years were marked by a number of important works, they are seen as a period of preparation for serious work because at that time the artist was able to devote herself to creation only in fits and starts. The second period embraced life in Crimea, where she led a relatively calm and materially well-provided life and was able to fully soak herself into creation, even though this period was short.Possessing talent and being very diligent, the artist tried herself in painting, created several tens of busts and portrait medals (mainly family members, acquaintances), reliefs of historic personalities. Four crucifixes and a series of historic chess created in the period of Crimea to commemorate the victory of the army of the Polish- Lithuanian Commonwealth over the Turkish army near Vienna in 1683 are regarded as the highlights of her creation. The creative path of Skirmantienė perfectly reflects an attempt of noble girl/woman - a typical representative of estate culture - to break free from relatively closed and conservative cultural environment conditioned by class system and political situation in the country ofthat time to the sphere of universal Western culture and to maximally realise herself as an independent creator and artist. At her time E. Skirmantienė was a relatively famous artist. Unfortunately today, she is almost forgotten. This happened mainly due to the fact that very few works reached our days and only several are known in Lithuania. The main sources to familiarise with sculptor's creative works include photographs, reproductions and reports of her contemporaries. They were firstly applied trying to reconstruct the path of artist's life and creation, to register and discuss the majority of her well-known (extant and not only) works

Satire-shock-victim-flag-phoenix : the story of one sculpture

Prieš pirmąjį pasaulinį karą surengtos lietuvių dailės parodos buvo svarbus faktorius, atspindintis tautinę - politinę lietuvių situaciją ir jų apsisprendimą. Ypatingai tai buvo susiję su lietuvių ir lenkų konfliktu. 1912 m. parodoje eksponuota Petro Rimšos skulptūra "Kova" vaizdavo vyčio ir erelio kovą, o tai susilaukė didžiulio atgarsio. Ši Petro Rimšos skulptūra yra vienas geriausių jo ankstyvosios kūrybos darbų, ženklinusių ne tik Lietuvos dailės, bet ir apskritai lietuvių tautos emancipaciją, politinį apsisprendimą. "Kova" iš meninės metaforos virto lietuvių pasipriešinimo Lenkijai ir nepriklausomos Lietuvos simboliu, tarnavo kaip antilenkiška propaganda. Ši skulptūra deklaravo Lietuvą kaip nepriklausomą politinį subjektą, apie ką lietuvių tautos atstovai politikai prabilo 1918 m.The article looks into the political-cultural situation of Lithuania in the context of the tense relationship between the Lithuanians and the Polish. The story of the sculpture "The Conflict", created by P. Rimša, is considered in discussing the subject. The conclusion is made that the sculpture is one of the greatest works of his early period, the birth of which signified a certain level of emancipation of Lithuanian art and Lithuanian society in general, facilitating the courage to openly express political attitudes and a model of the nation's self-development strengthened by those attitudes

Juozas Ignatavičius and historic paintings of the inter-war period in Lithuania

The article is the first attempt to disclose the artistic biography of Juozas Ignatavičius and to measure the artistic value of his output, the subject not yet touched in the Lithuanian publications on art. Ignatavičius' works are reviewed in the context of the inter-war artistic culture. The author analyses the development of the historic scene painting, points out the major works on this theme and indicates the specific features of this genre. In addition, the popularity of the stylistics of academic realism in the inter-war art is shown. In the conclusion, the author points out the timeliness and actuality of such a genre and asserts that a kind of break in the historic consciousness of society and the shift from romanticism to modern ideas lent marginality to Ignatavičius' works possessing features of amateurish academism

Teaching art in the Republic of Lithuania in 1918-1940

In the postwar history of Vilnius and Kaunas art institutes two phases can be clearly distinguished: 1) from the returning of the Soviet authorities till the end of 1946 and 2) the joining of both institutes in 1951. During the first phase an intensive centrally regulated Sovietization of the said educational institutions was performed but more significant “staff cleaning” was avoided, only the heads were changed and several older teachers were expelled. On the background of the fighting the manifestations of the Western bourgeois art or formalism, which intensified during the second period a quite broad ideological attacks campaign was performed, during which both the centrally delegated emissaries and the forces of locally shaped party and Communist Youth forces were employed, attempts were made to contrast some pedagogues with others, thus breaking them and forcing them to obey the needs of the new ideology. During the said period, by joining both institutes, a numerous number of most talented and experienced pedagogues were expelled. Only a small part of the old pedagogues, i. e. A. Gudaitis, P. Aleksandravičius, Juozas and Jonas Mikėnas, etc., although forced to obey the new conditions, withstood the difficult challenges. Their authority, even upon the removal of most colleagues, allowed them to keep a certain continuation of the Lithuanian tradition in the State Art Institute and resulted in the situation, when during the “thaw” the tradition could be continued by already a new generation of artists. The fates of the artists, expelled from pedagogical activities, were very different but not a lot of them had the possibility to return to the institute, which, most likely, had especially negative consequences. As a whole, the postwar turmoil and losses left an incurable would in the history of our culture